Angelina Jolie to receive honorary Oscar award

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is to give a prestigious humanitarian award to Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie for her "impassioned" campaigning work, the Oscar-bestowing body announced Thursday.

The Academy's board of governors will also give honorary lifetime awards to veteran actors Steve Martin and Angela Lansbury, as well as Italian costume designer Piero Tosi, whose work includes the 1971 classic Death in Venice.

Jolie, who won the best supporting actress Oscar in 2000 for her role in Girl, Interrupted, has been an "impassioned advocate for humanitarian causes, traveling widely to promote organizations and social justice efforts," the Academy said.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is to give a prestigious humanitarian award to Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie for her "impassioned" campaigning work, the Oscar-bestowing body announced Thursday.

The Academy's board of governors will also give honorary awards to veteran actors Steve Martin and Angela Lansbury, as well as Italian costume designer Piero Tosi, whose work includes the 1971 classic Death in Venice.

Jolie, who won the best supporting actress Oscar in 2000 for her role in Girl, Interrupted, has been an "impassioned advocate for humanitarian causes, traveling widely to promote organizations and social justice efforts," the Academy said.

The actress, whose partner is Brad Pitt and who announced in May that she had undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her high risk of breast cancer, has staked out "a career at the nexus of entertainment and philanthropy," it said.

Jolie has worked for advocacy groups including the Council on Foreign Relations and was named a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2012 after 12 years of service, it noted.

The Honorary Award is given "to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy."

Lansbury made her feature debut in 1944 with Gaslight, and her credits include The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Death on the Nile(1978) and, most recently, 2011's Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Highlights of Martin's long career as actor, writer, comedian and musician include The Jerk, (1979), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), Three Amigos (1986) Roxanne (1987),and two The Pink Panther films, in 2006 and 2009.